Trojans rebound in a big way

YERMO - Andy Campbell benched his sophomore running back, Kerry Sloan, for the first play of Friday's game.

A lackluster week of practice earned Sloan a spot on the Don Price Field sideline.

"Kerry's got to understand, and I think he does now, that our motto is if you aren't getting better, you are getting worse," Campbell said.

Sloan got a lot better on the game's second play.

Taking the handoff from quarterback Chris Bailey, Sloan cut up the middle and then headed for the left sideline with an open running lane. Seventy-four yards later, Sloan put Silver Valley's first points on the board in a 44-8 homecoming win against Tahquitz.

"Kerry Sloan is an amazing athlete," Campbell said. "When he decides to play football, there's not a better player that I have ever seen.
"When he plays upset, when he plays with attitude, you can't stop him."

He didn't get any worse throughout the rest of the game, carrying the ball 15 times for 206 yards and two touchdowns against the Titans.

For Silver Valley, the win was a welcome change from last week when its entire offense was held to 31 yards in a loss to Mammoth. Campbell and the Trojans spent the week refocusing, and it wasn't long before he saw the results pay off.

With the score 20-0 at halftime, Campbell said he knew his team was back on track once they began controlling the line of scrimmage and dictating play early. Campbell said it was imperative for his team to regroup heading into their rivalry game against Lucerne Valley.

"It's one those things that if we didn't come out and refocus and come to play today, we were definitely not going to come and play next week," he said.

The Silver Valley offensive line struggled against Mammoth but helped the Trojans surge against Tahquitz. The Trojans ran for 430 yards and put up 518 yards total due in part to improved play by the offensive line.

"What a way for the O-line to say, `Here we go coach. We are back in the swing of things.' They did a heck of a job today," Campbell said.

Tahquitz, a first-year program from Hemet comprised of freshmen and sophomores, played just its third varsity game of the season. The Titans (0-3) struggled with penalties and turnovers throughout the night. They fumbled the ball to Silver Valley three times.

"We've been running the offense the whole year, and we haven't had those problems," Tahquitz coach Steve Silberman said. "Tonight we had a ton of them. We put the ball on the ground way too much. We had false starts, illegal procedures. Things that haven't been an issue were a big issue for us tonight."

While the Trojans offense ran at will, the defense also joined in on scoring. At midfield, freshman Traevon Beddard and a host of Trojans stuffed the Titans on a short gain. Beddard ripped the ball out of the running back's hands and raced 47 yards to make it 32-0.